Information processing apparatus and information processing method

ABSTRACT

A home screen display unit displays a home screen indicating a plurality of menus. If an execution menu of a game application is selected in the home screen, a game screen display unit displays in full screen a game screen indicating an execution result of the game application. If an execution menu of an application other than a game is selected in the home screen, a browser screen display unit displays in full screen a browser screen indicating an execution result of the application other than a game. A screen transition control unit allows a direct transition from the game screen to the browser screen if a predetermined operation is performed while the game screen is displayed, and allows a direct transition from the browser screen to the game screen if the predetermined operation is performed while the browser screen is displayed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to data processing technology, and moreparticularly, to information processing apparatuses and informationprocessing methods for displaying a screen relating to electroniccontent.

BACKGROUND ART

Recent years, so-called digital electrical household appliances havebecome more diversified. For example, in order to record a TV program, ahard disk recorder, a DVD recorder, a composite device thereof, or thelike can be used. Also in relation with playing back music, the methodsthereof have become diversified, for example, playback of compresseddata stored in various types of memory cards, hard disks, or the like,in addition to playback of conventional compact disks (CDs).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

Digital electrical household appliances, particularly devices forplaying back electronic content (e.g., an image, music, etc), are ofteninstalled in a shared area at home, such as a living room or the like,since such appliances are expected to be used concurrently by aplurality of persons occasionally, that is not the case with PCs.Because a small number of buttons are provided and a small display areais provided on a control panel or on a controller of digital electricalhousehold appliances, sometimes operation details are not displayed onthe main body thereof but displayed on an area of another device (e.g.on a television screen). Generally, a television screen is viewed from adistant position to a certain degree. Therefore, texts in small font ormovements of a small pointer as that taking place on a PC screen are notappropriate for being displayed on a television screen. The presentinventor has thought that favorable visibility and simplicity ofoperation are strongly required for a user interface of a digitalelectrical household appliance using a television screen and that anoperation method generally used for a PC can not be referred to as amethod that always provides excellent usability.

The present invention addresses the aforementioned problem recognitionby the inventor, and a major purpose thereof is to improve userfriendliness of an apparatus that processes electronic content.

Means to Solve the Problem

In order to address the aforementioned issue, an information processingapparatus is provided according to an aspect of the present invention.The information processing apparatus includes: an upper-layer screendisplay unit configured to display, as an upper-layer screen, a screenthat is located on an upper layer with respect to a screen transitionand that is used for selecting a category of content to be processed; alower-layer screen display unit configured to display, as a lower-layerscreen, a screen that is located on a lower layer with respect to thescreen transition and that is used for selecting a piece of content tobe processed from among a plurality of pieces of content correspondingto a category selected in the upper-layer screen; and a content screendisplay unit configured to display a screen of selected content if aspecific piece of content is selected in the lower-layer screen. Theupper-layer screen display unit displays, in the upper-layer screen, animage of at least a portion of the lower-layer screen with image qualitylower than that in the case where the image is displayed in thelower-layer screen.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an informationprocessing method is provided. This method includes: displaying, as anupper-layer screen, a screen that is located on an upper layer withrespect to a screen transition and that is used for selecting a categoryof content to be processed; displaying, as a lower screen, a screen thatis located on a lower layer with respect to the screen transition andthat is used for selecting a piece of content to be processed from amonga plurality of pieces of content corresponding to a category selected inthe upper-layer screen; and displaying a screen of selected content if aspecific piece of content is selected in the lower screen. Thedisplaying the upper-layer screen includes displaying, in theupper-layer screen, an image of at least a portion of the lower screenwith image quality lower than that in the case where the image isdisplayed in the lower screen.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, an informationprocessing apparatus is provided. This apparatus includes: a contenticon display unit configured to arrange and display a plurality ofcontent icons indicating a plurality of pieces of content in a firstarea in a content selection screen; a cursor display unit configured todisplay a cursor for focusing on one of the plurality of content icons;a content playback unit configured, if a specific content icon isfocused on by the cursor, and if a preset determination operation isperformed, to start playback of the content indicated by the focusedicon; a related information acquiring unit configured, if a specificcontent icon is focused on by the cursor, to acquire related informationrelating to the content registered in an external device from theexternal device without starting playback of the content indicated bythe focused icon; and a related information display unit configured todisplay the related information acquired by the related informationacquiring unit in a second area of the content selection screen, and ifrelated information is updated, configured to display the updatedrelated information in the second area so as to replace the relatedinformation having been displayed until that moment.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, an informationprocessing method is provided. This method includes: arranging anddisplaying a plurality of content icons indicating a plurality of piecesof content in a first area in a content selection screen; displaying acursor for focusing on one of the plurality of content icons; starting,if a specific content icon is focused on by the cursor, and if a presetdetermination operation is performed, playback of the content indicatedby the focused icon; acquiring, if a specific content icon is focused onby the cursor, related information relating to the content registered inan external device from the external device without starting playback ofthe content indicated by the focused icon; and displaying the acquiredrelated information in a second area of the content selection screen,and if related information is updated, displaying the updated relatedinformation in the second area so as to replace the related informationhaving been displayed until that moment.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, an informationprocessing apparatus is provided. This apparatus includes: a menu screendisplay unit configured to display a menu screen indicating a pluralityof menus; a game screen display unit configured, if an execution menu ofa game application is selected in the menu screen, to display in fullscreen a game screen indicating an execution result of the gameapplication; an application screen display unit configured, if anexecution menu of an application other than a game is selected in themenu screen, to display in full screen an application screen indicatingan execution result of the application other than a game; and a screentransition control unit configured to allow a direct transition from thegame screen to the application screen if a predetermined first operationis performed while the game screen is displayed, and configured to allowa direct transition from the application screen to the game screen ifthe predetermined first operation is performed while the applicationscreen is displayed.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, an informationprocessing method is provided. This method includes: displaying a menuscreen indicating a plurality of menus; displaying in full screen, if anexecution menu of a game application is selected in the menu screen, agame screen indicating an execution result of the game application;displaying in full screen, if an execution menu of an application otherthan a game is selected in the menu screen, an application screenindicating an execution result of the application other than a game; andallowing a direct transition from the game screen to the applicationscreen if a predetermined first operation is performed while the gamescreen is displayed, and allowing a direct transition from theapplication screen to the game screen if the predetermined firstoperation is performed while the application screen is displayed.

Optional combinations of the aforementioned constituting elements, andimplementations of the invention in the form of methods, apparatuses,systems, computer programs, and recording media that store computerprograms may also be practiced as additional modes of the presentinvention.

Advantageous Effect of the Invention

According to the present invention, user friendliness of an apparatusthat processes electronic content can be improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a multimedia playback system accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows an outward structural appearance of a game console shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of thegame console shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows the detailed configuration of the home screen display unitshown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 schematically shows a hierarchy of home screens and screentransitions among the home screens;

FIG. 6 shows a global navigation screen;

FIG. 7 shows a global navigation screen;

FIG. 8 shows a secondary navigation screen;

FIG. 9 shows a content zone screen;

FIG. 10 shows a content zone screen;

FIG. 11 shows a content zone screen;

FIG. 12 schematically shows browser screens and screen transitions amongthe browser screens; and

FIG. 13 schematically shows screen transitions among a home screen, abrowser screen, and a game screen.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A multimedia playback system according to the embodiment is aninformation processing system that plays back or executes (herein afterreferred to as “plays back”) a plurality of types of electronic contentincluding still image content, moving image content, music content,broadcast content, game software content, or the like in a multimediaplayback device. A screen of a television receiver is used as a displayscreen of the multimedia playback device, and information displayed onthe display screen and operation buttons on a controller are used ascontrol means.

A multimedia playback device (referred as a “game console 200” in thefollowing embodiments) according to the embodiment integrates playbacksof a plurality of pieces of content under a common user interface, whichprovides a user with common operability. This user interface is assumedto be operated by a user using a controller that has more operationallimitation in comparison with a keyboard, a mouse, or the like(typically, a controller with a small number of control options whichcan be input) at about 3 meters distance from a television receiver.Three major features of the multimedia playback device according to theembodiment will be given below.

(1) Navigation to the start of playback of content (in other words,navigation that supports selection of content to be played back) ishierarchized and is displayed so that a user can intuitively grasprelations between screens on respective layers.

(2) Before starting the playback of content, the latest information onthe content managed by a server (herein after also referred to as a“content related information.”) is provided to a user.

(3) An interface that can easily switch between a content play backscreen image and a screen image for displaying content relatedinformation.

In this manner, user friendliness can be improved by providing a userinterface that implements a visual effect that appeals intuitively to auser and simple operability.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a multimedia playback system accordingto an embodiment. The multimedia playback system 100 comprises a gameconsole 200 a, a game console 200 b, a game console 200 c (herein afterreferred to as a “game console 200” when referred collectively) asmultimedia playback devices, and a managing server 102. The game console200 and the managing server 102 are connected with each other via acommunication network 104 including a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, or thelike. A plurality of managing servers 102 that manage differentinformation may be provided. The game console 200 may set one of themanaging servers 102 as a server to access in accordance withinformation to be acquired.

The managing server 102 collects a playback status of content (e.g.,data indicating the name of a game being played, the progression statusof the game, or the like) in each of the plurality of the game consoles200 connected to the communication network 104, from each of the gameconsole 200 s and stores the playback status as content relatedinformation. Further, for each of a plurality of pieces of content thatcan be played back in the game console 200, the managing server 102accepts the registration of related information of each piece of contentfrom an external device (e.g., a game console 200 or a PC (not shown))and stores the related information.

The managing server 102 typically stores a plurality of types (e.g.,three to nine types) of content related information for one piece ofcontent (e.g., one game title or one music tune). Content relatedinformation for a certain game title includes, for example, followinginformation.

(1) User information on a user who is currently on line, typically, whois playing a game.

(2) User's impressions on a game.

(3) A moving image or a still image captured while playing a game anduploaded by a user.

(4) The progress status of a game for a user.

(5) The status of a player's character of a user.

(6) Information on various types of communities (e.g., call forparticipants for a party, call for participants for a tournament, etc).

(7) Item information (newly arrived items that can now be purchased in agame, etc).

(8) An advertisement of other content (including, for example, a game ofother title belonging to a same series, and further including not only agame but also a related music tunes or book, etc).

(9) Information on a bulletin board for users to exchange informationamong one another.

The managing server 102 stores both “detailed related information” and a“related information summary” for each of a plurality of types ofcontent related information, and provides either the “detailed relatedinformation” or the “related information summary” in accordance with arequest from a game console 200. The detailed related information is thecontent related information in its entirety, and is information to bedisplayed on a browser screen 40, which will be described later. Therelated information summary is summarized detailed related information,which is summarized according to a predetermined rule (in other words,reduced detailed related information, with which the amount ofinformation is reduced) and is information to be displayed in a liveitem 92, which will be described later.

In addition, the managing server 102 stores user information for each ofthe plurality of game consoles 200 in the multimedia playback system 100in a similar manner as that of the content related information. Uponreceiving from a certain game console 200 a request to provide userinformation, the managing server 102 provides user information on one ormore users of another game console 200 for the game console 200 that hassent the request. For example, the managing server 102 provides an imageand attribute information relating to a friend user, whom a user of thegame console 200 having sent the request registered with the managingserver 102.

In this manner, the managing server 102 stores various types ofinformation to be displayed in a variety of interfaces of the gameconsoles 200, and provides the information to the game consoles 200 asappropriate. For example, when a content zone screen 20 shown in FIG.11, which will be described later, is displayed in the game console 200,for each of the plurality of pieces of content that have recently playedback by the user, the managing server 102 transmits to the game console200 attribute information of a friend user who has played back a samepiece of content. This attribute information includes an image and textthat a friend user has registered with the managing server 102 inadvance.

A detailed explanation on the game console 200 will be given below. FIG.2 shows an outward structural appearance of the game console 200 shownin FIG. 1. Although the game console 200 is represented by a stationarygame device according to the embodiment, the game console 200 may be aportable game device formed integrally with a display device. The gameconsole 200 is connected to a controller 202 and to a television monitor204. The game console 200 is provided with a function of executingvarious types of games, a function of creating and editing emails, afunction of viewing web pages, a function of playing back movies ormusic, or the like. The controller 202 is connected to the game console200 wirelessly. The television monitor 204 is connected to the gameconsole 200, and not only displays game information, game image, webpages, movies, or the like, but also outputs sound. Although not shownin FIG. 2, the game console 200 is connected to the Internet by beingconnected to a communication device (e.g., a router or the like) via aLAN cable.

The game console 200 is provided with a disk insertion slot 206 for anoptical disk having a diameter of 12 cm, a USB connecting terminal 208,etc. The disk insertion slot 206 is configured so as to be able to loadan optical disk such as a Blu-ray (BD) Disk (trademark or registeredtrademark), a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM, or the like. A touch sensor 210 is asensor for removing a disk, and a touch sensor 212 is a sensor forturning on/off the power. Although not shown in the figures, a powerswitch, an audio-visual output terminal, an optical digital outputterminal, an AC power input terminal, a LAN port, an HDMI terminal, andthe like are provided on the back of the game console 200. In addition,the game console 200 may have an IEEE1394 terminal so as to be able tocommunicate via IEEE1394.

The game console 200 is also provided with a multimedia slot. Amultimedia slot case 214 is a cover member and, although not shown inthe figures, is configured so that the multimedia slot is exposed whenthe multimedia slot case 214 is open.

The game console 200 performs various types of processes for, forexample, executing a game, composing, editing, and receiving an email,and browsing a Web page in accordance with an application program for agame, an email, or a Web browser and with an instruction from the uservia the controller 202. The application program may be any applicationprogram that is loaded from various types of recording media such as anoptical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, and a BD), a hard disk drive,or semiconductor memory, or may be an application program that isdownloaded via various types of transmission media such as a LAN and aCATV circuit.

In addition to executing a game, composing, editing, receiving an email,browsing a Web page, etc., which are based on application programs, thegame console 200 can play back (or decode) video and audio data, forexample, audio data recorded in a CD, a movie recorded in a DVD or a BD,etc. The game console 200 can also operate based on other various typesof application programs. A driver program for playing back a DVD or a BDis recorded in, for example, a hard disk drive 334 built in the gameconsole 200.

The controller 202 is activated by a battery (not shown) and is providedwith a plurality of buttons and keys for entering operation input tomake a game or the like progress. When the user operates the button orthe key of the controller 202, the operation input is transmitted to thegame console 200 wirelessly or by wires.

The controller 202 is provided with a direction key 216, an analog stick218, and four kinds of operation buttons 220. The direction key 216, theanalog stick 218, and the operation buttons 220 are input units providedon a housing upper surface 222. The four types of buttons 224, 226, 228,and 230 are marked with different symbols in different colors that eachbutton is distinguished from another. More specifically, a circle button224 is marked with a red circle, a cross button 226 with a blue cross, asquare button 228 with a purple square, and a triangle button 230 with agreen triangle. Although not shown in the figures, a housing rearsurface 232 of the controller 202 is provided with a plurality of LEDs.

The user holds a left grip part 234 b with his or her left hand and aright grip part 234 a with his or her right hand so as to operate thecontroller 202. The direction key 216, the analog stick 218, and theoperation buttons 220 are provided on the housing upper surface 222 sothat the user can operate while holding the left grip part 234 b and theright grip part 234 a.

A button with an LED (herein after referred to as a “PS button 236”) isalso provided on the housing upper surface 222. The PS button 236 isused, for example, so that the game console 200 displays a menu screen.The PS button 236 has a function of notifying the user of an incomingmail and/or indicating the charging state of the battery of thecontroller 202 by the light-emitting state of the LED. For example, theLED is lit in red while recharging and in green when the recharging iscompleted, and the LED is lit in red so as to blink when the remainingbattery is low. Further, a select button 240 and a start button 238 arealso provided on the housing upper surface 222, and predeterminedfunctions are allocated to the buttons 240 and 238, respectively.

For example, direction indicator keys indicating “up,” “down,” “left,”and “right” directions are provided on the direction key 216. Thedirection indicator keys are operated by a user when moving a gamecharacter of a game upward, downward leftward or rightward on a screen,when moving a text input cursor upward, downward leftward or rightwardon an email compose screen, when scrolling a page while browsing a Webpage, or when moving a cursor upward, downward leftward or rightward ona screen. The direction indicator keys indicating “up,” “down,” “left,”and “right” directions are used to indicate not only an up, down, left,or right direction but also a diagonal direction. For example, the usercan indicate, to the game console 200, a diagonally up right directionby concurrently pressing both the direction indicator key indicating“up” direction and the direction indicator key indicating “right”direction. The same applies to other direction indicator keys. Forexample, the user can indicate, to the game console 200, a diagonallydown left direction by concurrently pressing both the directionindicator key indicating “down” direction and the direction indicatorkey indicating “left” direction.

Different functions are assigned to the respective operation buttons 220by the application program. For example, a function of designating thedisplay of a menu is assigned to the triangle button 230, a function ofdesignating the cancellation or the like of a selected item is assignedto the circle button 224, a function of designating the confirmation orthe like of the selected item is assigned to the cross button 226, and afunction of designating, for example, the display or non-display of atable of contents is assigned to the square button 228. It is needlessto mention that the function of designating the confirmation or the likeof the selected item may be assigned to the circle button 224, and afunction of designating the cancellation or the like of a selected itemmay be assigned to the cross button 226, as a variation of theembodiment.

The analog stick 218 is provided with: a rotor that allows for a tiltingoperation in any direction around a rotating fulcrum of the operationshaft; and a variable-analog-value output means for outputting avariable analog value according to the operation of the rotor. The rotoris provided at the tip of the operation shaft, which is provided suchthat an elastic member allows the operation shaft to return to itsneutral position. The rotor keeps a position (a reference position) ofbeing in an upright state (in a state of no tilting) when no tiltingoperation is performed by the user. The variable-analog-value outputmeans is provided with a variable resistance element, etc. Theresistance of the variable resistance element changes in accordance withthe operation of the rotary operator. When the rotary operator of theanalog stick 218 is operated to tilt, the controller 202 detects acoordinate values on an X-Y coordinate based on the amount of theinclination with respect to the reference position and on the directionof the inclination and transmits the coordinate values to the gameconsole 200 as an operation output signal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of thegame console 200 shown in FIG. 1. The game console 200 comprises acommunication processing unit 250, a data storage unit 252, and acontrol unit 260. The elements shown in the block figure are implementedby an element device (e.g., a CPU, a GPU, a memory of a computer or thelike) and/or machinery and equipment in terms of hardware components,and a computer program or the like in terms of software components. Thefigure depicts functional blocks implemented by cooperation of thesecomponents. Therefore, it will be obvious to those skilled in the artthat the functional blocks may be implemented in a variety of ways, byhardware only, software only, or a combination thereof. The same appliesto the following block figures.

For example, program modules corresponding to functional blocks in thecontrol unit 260 may be stored in a hard disk or in a flash memory inthe game console 200, and a CPU or a GPU of the game console 200 mayread out and load the program modules to a main memory as appropriate,and may execute the program modules, so as to implement the functions ofthe control unit 260. The functions of the data storage unit 252 may beimplemented by a hard disk and/or a flash memory of the game console200.

The communication processing unit 250 controls communication to and fromthe managing server 102. The communication processing unit 250 transmitsdata passed from the control unit 260 to the managing server 102, andpasses data received from the managing server 102 to the control unit260. The communication processing unit 250 also controls communicationto and from the controller 202. The communication processing unit 250receives data indicating details of an operation on the controller 202and passes the data to the control unit 260.

The data storage unit 252 is a storage area that stores various types ofdata for data processing by the control unit 260. The data storage unit252 comprises a content data storing unit 254, a screen data storingunit 256, a transition data storing unit 257, and a related informationstoring unit 258.

The content data storing unit 254 stores data of electronic contentinstalled on the game console 200. This data is various types ofapplication data that can be played back with the game console 200, forexample, data for playing back a game, a music tune, a variety of movingimages, still images, or the like. The data also includes thumbnailimages of content. In addition, the content data storing unit 254 storesplayback histories of content in the game console 200.

The screen data storing unit 256 comprises a plurality of storage areasfor storing data of a home screen, a browser screen, and a game screen,which will be described later, respectively. Data of a home screen, abrowser screen, and/or a game screen that is recently browsed or that isthe latest version is stored in each of the storage areas. Data in eachof the storage areas is updated as appropriate along with dataprocessing (e.g., screen update processing) by the control unit 260.

The transition data storing unit 257 stores information indicating atransition-starting-point screen of a screen transition triggered bypressing of the PS button 236. This information indicates a screen towhich to make a backward transition by pressing operation on the PSbutton 236 again, and may be, for example, the identificationinformation on any one of a home screen, a browser screen, or a gamescreen. The related information storing unit 258 stores content relatedinformation acquired by a related information acquiring unit 266, whichwill be described later, while associating the content relatedinformation with the ID of the content thereof.

The control unit 260 executes various types of data processing. Moreparticularly, the control unit 260 controls the display of a navigationscreen that supports selection of content to be played back (in otherwords, a menu screen for starting an application program), and alsocontrols a transition between screens, according to the embodiment. A“menu” in the specification refers to a displayed object which works asa trigger to execute a predetermined function, and may be configuredwith various types of text, symbols, images, and a combination thereof.Hereinafter, a “menu” may also be referred to as an “item,” an “icon,”or a “symbol,” as appropriate.

The control unit 260 comprises an operation detecting unit 262, a screentransition control unit 264, a user information acquiring unit 265, arelated information acquiring unit 266, a content playback unit 268, anda display control unit 270. The display control unit 270 includes a homescreen display unit 272, a game screen display unit 274, and a browserscreen display unit 276. FIG. 4 shows the detailed configuration of thehome screen display unit 272 shown in FIG. 3. The home screen displayunit 272 includes a common menu display unit 280, a focus control unit282, a first layer display unit 284, a second layer display unit 286,and a third layer display unit 288. The third layer display unit 288includes a content icon display unit 290, a live area defining unit 292,a related information display unit 294, and a background defining unit296.

An explanation will be continued while referring back to FIG. 3. Theoperation detecting unit 262 detects, via the communication processingunit 250, an operation input by a user through a controller 202. Theuser information acquiring unit 265 transmits a request to provide userinformation to the managing server 102, and acquires, as a response fromthe managing server 102, user information stored in the managing server102. The related information acquiring unit 266 transmits a request toprovide content related information to the managing server 102, andacquires, as a response from the managing server 102, content relatedinformation stored in the managing server 102.

The content playback unit 268 reads data of content that is instructedto be played back in a content zone screen, which will be describedlater, from the content data storing unit 254, plays back the content,and passes the result of the playback (an image or the like) to the gamescreen display unit 274. In addition, the content playback unit 268updates playback histories of content stored in the content data storingunit 254 by storing an identification information indicating contentthat has been played back in the content data storing unit 254. Theplayback status notifying unit 269 in the content playback unit 268notifies the managing server 102 of the playback status of content(e.g., the name of a game being played back, the progress status of agame, the status of a player's character, etc).

The display control unit 270 outputs data of a home screen, a browserscreen, a game screen as a user interface provided by the game console200 to the television monitor 204 via a display driver, and displaysthese screens on the television monitor 204. The display control unit270 executes a process of display switching from a screen beingdisplayed to another screen in accordance with an instruction for screentransition instructed by the screen transition control unit 264.

The home screen display unit 272 in the display control unit 270controls the display of a home screen, the game screen display unit 274controls details of a game screen to be displayed, and the browserscreen display unit 276 controls details of a browser screen to bedisplayed. The home screen display unit 272, the game screen displayunit 274, and the browser screen display unit 276 store data of a homescreen, a game screen, and a browser screen that have been displayedrecently, or that are the latest in storage areas for respective screensprovided in the screen data storing unit 256, and updates the data on anas needed basis. This storing and updating process is continuouslyexecuted even during a period when a screen is not displayed on thetelevision monitor 204 (i.e., when the screen is created and updated inthe background).

The screen transition control unit 264 controls screen transitions amonga home screen, a browser screen, and a game screen. For example, thescreen transition control unit 264 controls a switch between thesescreens, and a switch between home screens that belong to differentlayers. Detailed explanations will be given below on a home screen, abrowser screen, and a game screen, respectively, and a furtherexplanation will be given on a transition between these screens.

[Home Screen] A home screen is a portal screen for processing content.The home screen may be referred to as a navigation screen that guides auser until the determination of content to be processed in the gameconsole 200 and that supports a user's determination of content to beprocessed. Further, a home screen may be referred to as a menu screenthat presents a plurality of menus (i.e., options) to a user and thatguides the user to the playback of content by allowing the user toselect a desired menu one by one.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a hierarchy of home screens and screentransitions among the home screens. Home screens 10 are grouped into aplurality of layers so that a user can comfortably select a desiredfunction and desired content from among a large number of functions andpieces of content provided by the game console 200, and so that theprovision of diverse functions and a simple user interface arecompatible. According to the embodiment, the home screens 10 areclassified into three layers, and a user selects desired content whilemaking a transition between screens belonging to respective layers.

A screen of a first layer that is located on the upper layer withrespect to a screen transition is referred to as a “global navigationscreen.” A screen of a second layer that is located on the middle layerwith respect to a screen transition is referred to as a “secondarynavigation screen.” A screen of a third layer that is located on thelower layer with respect to a screen transition is referred to as a“content zone screen.” Herein after, a global navigation screen, asecondary navigation screen, and a content zone screen are referred toas a “home screen 10” in case of being referred to collectively. While ahome screen 10 is displayed, if a category and/or a condition isselected by using the direction key 216 and if the cross button 226 ispressed as a determination operation, the screen transition control unit264 makes a transition to a home screens 10 of a lower layer, one byone. On the other hand, if the circle button 224 is pressed as acancellation operation, the screen transition control unit 264 makes atransition to a home screens 10 of an upper layer, one by one.

A global navigation screen is a screen for allowing a user to select acategory of content to be processed, and is an initial screen that isdisplayed when the game console 200 is started. A content zone screen isa screen for allowing a user to select content to be processed fromamong a plurality of pieces of content that have been associated, inadvance, with a category selected in the global navigation screen. Asecondary navigation screen is a screen for allowing a user to select acondition of content to be displayed in a content zone screen with ahigh priority, the content being included in a plurality of pieces ofcontent that have been associated with a category selected in the globalnavigation screen. This condition may also be referred to as a filteringcondition for displaying content in a content zone screen.

FIG. 6 shows a global navigation screen 12 shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7shows a global navigation screen 14 shown in FIG. 5. The first layerdisplay unit 284 displays a global navigation screen, and displays aplurality of menus 72 in a respective-layers-information area 70 of theglobal navigation screen. The plurality of menus 72 indicate a pluralityof categories of electronic content to be processed, respectively. A“Play” category is deemed as a place to enjoy content. Morespecifically, a “Play” category is a category where electronic contentis played back. A “People” category is deemed as a place to connect witha friend and/or with a player around the user. More specifically, a“People” category is a category where information on other users isviewed as electronic content. A “Discover” category is deemed as a placeto discover a new and enjoyable experience. More specifically, a“Discover” category is a category where a user view information onelectronic content that the user has not yet experienced.

The first layer display unit 284 displays at least a portion of thedisplay of a screen image of a lower layer (i.e., a secondary navigationscreen and a content zone screen) with image quality lower than that inthe case where the screen image is actually displayed in the lowerlayer. For example, an image of at least a portion included in a screenof a lower layer may be displayed blurry by eliminating high frequencycomponents by using a low pass filter, a Gaussian filter, or the like.Displaying in low quality includes all sorts of visibility reductioncompared to that of an actual image displayed in a screen of a lowerlayer. For example, an image may be displayed in a small size, may bedisplayed with a low resolution, or may be displayed with a high degreeof transparency.

In FIG. 6, with respect to a content image to be displayed in a contentzone screen 18, which is a transition destination in case the “Play”category is selected, a content image 74 is displayed. The content image74 is a low-quality image of the content image to be displayed in thecontent zone screen 18. In FIG. 7, with respect to a menu to bedisplayed in a secondary navigation screen 16, which is a directtransition destination in case the “People” category is selected, a menu76 is displayed. The menu 76 is a low-quality image of the menu to bedisplayed in a secondary navigation screen 16. In FIG. 7, with respectto a content image to be displayed in a content zone screen 20, which isan indirect transition destination in case the “People” category isselected, a content image 74 is further displayed. The content image 74is a low-quality image of the content image to be displayed in thecontent zone screen 20.

The first layer display unit 284 may adjust the level of image qualityreduction in accordance with a distance between screens, that is, inaccordance with the number of screen transitions required in order toarrive at a specific screen. For example, since the menu 76 of theglobal navigation screen 14 is an image of the secondary navigationscreen 16 of distance 1 (one transition), the image quality of the menu76 may be reduced by one level. On the other hand, since the contentimage 74 of the global navigation screen 14 is an image of the contentzone screen 20 of distance 2 (two transitions), the image quality of thecontent image 74 may be reduced by two levels (i.e., the image qualityof the content image 74 may be reduced more than that of the menu 76.)

That is, the first layer display unit 284 may display an image of thesecondary navigation screen 16 with comparatively high image qualitywhile displaying both an image of the secondary navigation screen 16 andan image of the content zone screen 20 with image quality lower thanthat of actual images thereof. In this manner, by displaying in anupper-layer screen an image of a lower screen, which is distant from theupper-layer screen, with relatively low image quality, and by displayingan image of a middle-layer screen, which is close to the upper-layerscreen, with relatively high image quality, a hint of a distance betweenscreens can be given to a user. Further, this allows a user to graspintuitively the hierarchy of home screens 10 and screen images to bedisplayed in the future.

The common menu display unit 280 displays, in a system area 60, aplurality of menus for specifying an operation that does not depend onlayers of screen transitions (herein after also referred to as “commonmenus”). The system area 60 is provided at a same position in any of aglobal navigation screen, a secondary navigation screen, or a contentzone screen. The common menu display unit 280 arranges and displays eachof the plurality of common menus at a same position in the system area60 regardless of the type of the screens. In other words, the commonmenu display unit 280 arranges and displays the common menus in a sameorder.

The common menus includes a notifications 61, a chat 62, a BGM setting63, an item on playback 64, and a login user 65. Although not shown inFIG. 5, if the cross button 226 is pressed for a home screen where acertain common menu is focused on, the screen transition control unit264 allows a transition to a screen with which the focused common menuis associated.

The item on playback 64 included in the common menus indicates contentbeing played back in the background while a home screen 10 is displayed.For example, the item on playback 64 includes the name of a game beingplayed back and a thumbnail thereof. Typically, in case that a userswitches from a play back screen (i.e., a game screen) to a home screen10 while continuing the play back of content, the common menu displayunit 280 displays the item on playback 64 in the home screen 10 afterthe switch. As will be described later, the item on playback 64 providesa shortcut function for taking a shortcut to a playback screen. Thecommon menu display unit 280 may display a thumbnail of a reduced-sizeimage or video indicating a current (latest) playback result of contentbeing played back in the background as a thumbnail of the item onplayback 64.

The focus control unit 282 controls the focus status (i.e., selectionstatus) of menus arranged in a home screen 10 in accordance with anoperation to the direction keys 216 by a user. FIG. 6 shows a statuswhere the “Play” category is focused on, and FIG. 7 shows a status wherethe “People” category is focused on. For example, an operation in thedown direction is input in the global navigation screen 12 shown in FIG.6, the global navigation screen 12 is replaced with the globalnavigation screen 14 shown in FIG. 7. In this manner, the first layerdisplay unit 284 is triggered by a change of the status of the menu 72to the focused status so as to display a screen image of a lower layerwith low image quality. In other words, before a determination operationfor a focused menu is made, a hint of a post-transition screen image,which will be displayed if the determination operation is performed, isgiven to a user.

An operation in the up direction is input in the global navigationscreen 12 shown in FIG. 6, the focus control unit 282 changes the statusof a predetermined common menu (e.g., a notifications 61) in the systemarea 60 to the focused status. If an operation in the horizontaldirection is input in this status, the focus control unit 282 switchesstatuses so that another common menu is set in the focused status. Thefocus control unit 282 may display a cursor in order to indicate that aspecific menu is in a focused status.

As shown in FIG. 5, if the cross button 226 is pressed for the globalnavigation screen 12 where the “Play” category is focused on, the screentransition control unit 264 allows a direct transition to the contentzone screen 18 of the third layer. On the other hand, if the crossbutton 226 is pressed for the global navigation screen 14 where the“People” category is focused on, the screen transition control unit 264allows a transition to the secondary navigation screen 16 of the secondlayer. If the cross button 226 is pressed in a state where a certaincondition is focused on in the secondary navigation screen 16, thescreen transition control unit 264 allows a transition to the contentzone screen 20 of the third layer.

If the cross button 226 is pressed for the global navigation screen 24where the “Discover” category is focused on, the screen transitioncontrol unit 264 may allow a transition in a similar manner as that ofthe case of “People” category. For example, the screen transitioncontrol unit 264 may allow a transition to a secondary navigation screen26, and to a content zone screen 28, sequentially. The secondarynavigation screen 26 is used in order to define conditions for narrowingdown content that the user has not yet experienced, for example, contentthat the user has not yet purchased, and/or content that the user doesnot have a right to play back. The content zone screen 28 is used forselecting content of which detailed information is to be viewed.

FIG. 8 shows the secondary navigation screen 16 shown in FIG. 5. Thesecond layer display unit 286 displays a secondary navigation screen,and displays a plurality of menus 78 in a respective-layers-informationarea 70 of the secondary navigation screen. The plurality of menus 78indicate filtering condition of content. For example, a “RecentlyPlayed” condition may be a condition specifying that content having newplayback date and time by a user and a friend user associated with thecontent are displayed in the content zone screen 20 with a highpriority. An “Online” condition may be a condition specifying that afriend user in an on-line status (i.e., a friend user whose game console200 is currently connected with the managing server 102) is displayed inthe content zone screen 20 with a high priority.

The second layer display unit 286 displays, in the secondary navigationscreen 16, an image of at least a portion of the content zone screen 20with image quality lower than that in the case where the image isactually displayed in the content zone screen 20. On the other hand, thesecond layer display unit 286 displays the image with image qualityhigher than that of the case where the image is displayed in the globalnavigation screen 14. Displaying in high quality includes all sorts ofdisplaying with higher visibility. For example, an image may bedisplayed in a large size, may be displayed with a high resolution, ormay be displayed with a low degree of transparency. With respect to acontent image to be displayed in a content zone screen 20, which is atransition destination in case the “Recently Played” condition isselected, a content image 74 is displayed in FIG. 8. The content image74 is a low-quality image of the content image to be displayed in thecontent zone screen 20. The content image 74 shown in FIG. 8 isdisplayed with image quality higher than that of the content image 74shown in FIG. 7.

Subsequently, an explanation will be given on a content zone screen ofthe third layer of home screens 10. First, an explanation will be givenon a case where the “Play” category is selected in the global navigationscreen.

In this case, the third layer display unit 288 displays the content zonescreen 18 shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 9 shows the content zone screen 18 shownin FIG. 5. In the content zone screen 18, therespective-layers-information area 70 is divided into a content area 80and a live area 82. The content icon display unit 290 arranges in a linea plurality of content icons 84 associated with a plurality of pieces ofcontent that can be played back in the game console 200 respectively anddisplays the icons 84 in the content area 80.

The content icons 84 are thumbnails that graphically indicateinformation on respective content. The content icons 84 may be movingimage thumbnails. The “content that can be played back” refer to contentthat a user of the game console 200 has a legitimate right to play back.For example, the “content that can be played back” includes content thatthe user purchased and installed on the game console 200, content ofwhich the usage license is registered with an external server (themanaging server 102 or the like), and the content being distributedfreely from an external server (the managing server 102 or the like). Incase that a user uses a subscription service where the playback ofcontent (games, music, moving images, or the like) is permitted onlyduring a predetermined licensed period, the “content that can be playedback” further includes content with which a usage allowance has givenand the licensed period thereof is not yet expired.

When the content zone screen 18 is to be displayed, the content icondisplay unit 290 refers to playback histories stored in the content datastoring unit 254 and identifies the latest playback date and time forrespective content. Then the content icon display unit 290 displayscontent icons 84 so that the newer the playback date and time of thecontent is, the higher the priority for displaying the icon 84 thereofis. More specifically, the content icon display unit 290 places thecontent icon 84 corresponding to content having the latest playback dateand time in an initial state of the content zone screen 18 (i.e.,immediately after a screen transition) at a focus position, which willbe described later. From the icon thereof, the content icon display unit290 arranges content icons 84 in descending order of playback date andtime sequentially from left to right so as to display the plurality ofcontent icons 84 in a line. At the initial state of the content zonescreen 18, a content icon 84 corresponding to content having the oldestplayback date and time may be displayed on the immediate left of thefocus position.

Also in case that “Play” category is focused on in a global navigationscreen, the content icon display unit 290 creates an image where aplurality of content icons 84 are arranged and passes the image to thefirst layer display unit 284. Thereby, the content image 74 is displayedin the global navigation screen as shown in FIG. 6.

The focus control unit 282 displays a cursor 86 at a predetermined fixedposition in the content area 80 (herein after also referred to as a“focus position”). The content icon display unit 290 displays a contenticon 84 that is to be displayed in the focus position as if the contenticon 84 is focused on. Herein after, content of which the content icon84 is displayed in the focus position is also referred to as “focusedcontent.” As described above, an icon of content having the latestplayback date and time is displayed in the focus position immediatelyafter a transition to the content zone screen 18. Therefore, the contenthaving the latest playback date and time will be the first focusedcontent.

If an operation indicating the left or right direction input through thedirection key 216 is detected when a cursor 86 is in the content area80, the content icon display unit 290 changes positions for displayingthe plurality of content icons 84, and displays the content icons 84 sothat the content icons 84 are shifted in the direction in accordancewith the operation direction. On the other hand, the focus control unit282 restrains the movement of the cursor 86. For example, if anoperation indicating the right direction is detected, the content icondisplay unit 290 changes the positions for displaying the content icons84 so that respective content icons 84 move to the left on the screen,and defines content that have been located on the right of the focusposition until that moment as a new focused content.

In this manner, a focus position is fixed in the content area 80. Thus,if an operation for selecting content (an operation indicating the leftor right direction through the direction key 216) is detected, thecursor 86 remains immovable at the focus position in the content area80, and the content icons 84 moves. On the other hand, if an operationindicating the up or down direction is detected, the focus control unit282 moves the cursor 86 from the focus position in the content area 80to a common menu positioned in the up direction (e.g., directly above),or to the live item 92 placed at a position in the down direction (e.g.,directly below). Therefore, regardless of whether or not an operationfor changing focused content in the content area 80 is input, the focuscontrol unit 282 moves the cursor 86 to a same common item or to a samelive item 92 in accordance with an input operation indicating the up ordown direction.

For example, an operation in the up direction is input in the contentzone screen 18 shown in FIG. 9, the cursor 86 may always be moved to theBGM setting 63, regardless of the focused content at that time. In caseof moving the cursor 86 in accordance with an input operation indicatingthe left or right direction to select the focused content, the positionof the cursor 86 in the content area 80 changes. Therefore, thedestination of the movement of the cursor 86 accompanying an operationindicating the up or down direction changes every time. Consequently,this may sometimes bring discomfort to a user, and/or may requiredifferent operations even in case of focusing on a same common menu.According to the embodiment, by fixing the position of the cursor 86 inthe content area 80, and by fixing the destination of the movement ofthe cursor 86 accompanying an operation indicating the up or downdirection, the deterioration of user friendliness in operation isrestricted.

In case that the status of a specific piece of content changes to thefocused status in the content area 80, the live area defining unit 292sets the notification item 90 and a predetermined number (threeaccording to the embodiment) of live items 92 in front of the live area82. The live item 92 is a display region for displaying a various typesof information relating to focused content, and may be deemed to be adisplay frame. The notification item 90 is static information determinedfixedly to focused content. The notification item 90 is, for example, alink icon for displaying documents, such as an instructions manual,precautions, etc.

In case that the status of a specific piece of content changes to thefocused status in the content area 80, the related information acquiringunit 266 acquires a plurality of types of related information summariesrelating to the focused content from the managing server 102, associatesthe summaries with the ID of the focused content, and stores thesummaries in the related information storing unit 258. The relatedinformation display unit 294 displays a predetermined number (threeaccording to the embodiment) of types of related information summariesfrom among a plurality of types (for example, four to nine types) ofrelated information summaries acquired by the related informationacquiring unit 266. The related information display unit 294 displaysthe predetermined number of types of related information summaries inthe three live items 92 located in front of the live area 82. Forexample, in case that a related information summary and the updated dateand time thereof is acquired from the managing server 102, the relatedinformation display unit 294 may display three related informationsummaries having the latest updated date and time in the live item 92 infront of the live area 82.

Every time focused content is changed in the content area 80, therelated information acquiring unit 266 acquires a related informationsummary for the new focused content. The related information displayunit 294 displays the related information summary relating to the newfocused content in the live item 92.

If a specific piece of content is focused on, and the cross button 226is pushed, the content playback unit 268 starts the playback of thefocused content. In other words, the content playback unit 268 does notstart the playback of focused content when a specific piece of contentis merely focused on in the content area 80. In the game console 200,while not starting the playback of focused content, the relatedinformation summary of the focused content is displayed on thetelevision monitor 204, which supports a user with a selection ofcontent to be played back.

If an operation in the down direction is input through the direction key216 in the content zone screen 18 shown in FIG. 9, the focus controlunit 282 moves the cursor 86 to one live item 92 among the three liveitems 92 displayed in the front. Then the focus control unit 282 changesthe status of the live item 92 of the destination of the movement to thefocused status. When the cursor 86 is in the live area 82, the focuscontrol unit 282 moves the cursor 86 in the horizontal direction, by anoperation in the horizontal direction input through the direction key216, and changes the status of another live item 92 to the focusedstatus. As will be described later, if a determination operation isperformed while a specific live item 92 is focused on, a browser screenindicating detailed related information corresponding to relatedinformation summary in the focused status is displayed. In any of thecases that the cursor 86 is on one of the three live items 92 displayedin the front, if an operation in the up direction is input, the focuscontrol unit 282 moves the cursor back to the focus position fixed inthe content area 80.

Upon receiving various types of information (e.g., a notification on theprogress status of a game, a comment that is newly posted, etc.)uploaded from respective game consoles 200, the managing server 102updates a related information summary and detailed related information,which are content related information. The related information acquiringunit 266 acquires a related information summary of focused contentregularly (every 30 seconds according to the embodiment) from themanaging server 102.

Upon detecting that the related information summary newly acquired bythe related information acquiring unit 266 and the related informationsummary stored in the related information storing unit 258 aredifferent, the related information display unit 294 displays the relatedinformation summary newly acquired in stead of the related informationsummary having been displayed until that moment in the live item 92.That is, upon detecting that the related information summary of focusedcontent is updated, the related information display unit 294 switchesinformation displayed in the live item 92 from the related informationsummary before the update to the related information summary after theupdate.

In case that the number of related information summaries acquired by therelated information acquiring unit 266 is more than three, the live areadefining unit 292 sets a live item 92 for displaying an excess ofrelated information summaries (herein after also referred to as a“second live item group”) in the back of the live items 92 displayed inthe front of the live area 82 (herein after also referred to as a “firstlive item group”). The “front” may be deemed to be a position close to auser when viewed from the user in terms of the appearance of the contentzone screen 18, and the “back” may be deemed to be a position far fromthe user when viewed from the user.

The live area defining unit 292 sets the first live item group whilesuperimposing the first live item group on the second live item group.However, the live area defining unit 292 does not allow the first liveitem group and the second live item group to overlap one anothercompletely. In other words, the live area defining unit 292 determinesthe position of each live item so that the first live item group isdisplayed so as to be superimposed on a portion of the second live itemgroup. In yet other words, the live area defining unit 292 determinesthe position of the second live item group so that the second live itemgroup is hidden by the first live item group, while a portion of thesecond live item group is exposed. The related information display unit294 displays three related information summaries from among a pluralityof types of related information summaries in the front live item 92, anddisplays the rest of the related information summaries in the live items92 that is set in the back. Thereby, under the limitation of screensize, while increasing the visibility of a part of the relatedinformation, a hint is given to a user about the existence of relatedinformation other than the related information displayed in the front.

In case that a predetermined switch condition is satisfied, the relatedinformation display unit 294 makes a switch so that a relatedinformation summary having been displayed in the live item 92 in theback until that moment is displayed in the live item 92 in the front. Inthe game console 200, a relation between a live item 92 as a displayframe and a related information summary is not fixed, and one relatedinformation summary is displayed in live items 92 at various positionsas time passes.

More specifically, for each of the plurality of types of relatedinformation summaries, the related information display unit 294 stores,in the related information storing unit 258, a display start time fordisplaying each related information in the live item 92 in front of thelive area 82. The related information display unit 294 detects a relatedinformation summary (herein after referred to as a “first summary”) forwhich the display time in the front live item 92 reaches a predeterminedtime period (according to the embodiment, 15 seconds). In this process,the related information display unit 294 identifies a relatedinformation summary having the oldest display start time in the frontfrom among the plurality of types of related information summaries(herein after referred to as a “second summary”), typically, anotherrelated information summary being displayed in the background live item92. Then the related information display unit 294 exchanges the displaypositions of the first summary and the second summary. For example, thesecond summary is transcribed to a front live item 92 where the firstsummary has been displayed until that moment. On the other hand, thefirst summary is transcribed to a back live item 92 where the secondsummary has been displayed until that moment.

Upon detecting an update of a related information summary that has beendisplayed in the back live item 92, the related information display unit294 may display the related information summary in the front live item92 with a priority higher than that of other related information summarythat has been displayed in the back live item 92 concurrently with theupdated related information summary.

For example, even if another related information summary having beendisplayed in the back live item 92 has an older display start time inthe front, the related information display unit 294 may display theupdated related information summary with a high priority in the frontlive item 92. In case that an update of a related information summaryhaving been displayed in the back live item 92 is detected, regardlessof the display-in-the-front time of related information summaries havingbeen displayed in the front live item 92 until that moment, the relatedinformation display unit 294 may instantly display the updated relatedinformation summary in the front live item 92.

Upon detecting an update of a related information summary having beendisplayed in the front live item 92, the related information displayunit 294 may replace the related information summary that has beendisplayed until that moment with the updated related informationsummary. In this process, the related information display unit 294 maydisplay the latest related information summary that has been updated fora predetermined time period (15 seconds) by resetting the display starttime to the current time.

In case that the status of a specific piece of content changes to thefocused status in the content area 80, the background defining unit 296acquires a background image associated with the focused content from thecontent data storing unit 254, and displays the image on the background88 of the content zone screen 18. Every time focused content is changedin the content area 80, the background defining unit 296 acquires abackground image of new focused content, and makes a switch so that thebackground image of the new focused content is displayed on thebackground 88. Alternatively, the related information acquiring unit 266may acquire a background image of focused content from the managingserver 102.

An explanation will be given on the design (i.e., the feature of theappearance) of the content zone screen 18. In the content zone screen18, an item to be operated (in other words, an item that can beoperated) is displayed so as to be placed on a layer close to a userwhen viewed from the user, and an item not to be operated is displayedso as to be placed on a layer far from the user when viewed from theuser.

More specifically, the content icon display unit 290 displays a contenticon 84, which is specified by the cursor 86 in the focus position, in asize larger and with lightness higher than other content icons 84 so asto indicate that the content icon 84 is in a focused status. Thispresents a content icon 84 in the focus position, of which the relatedinformation is displayed in a live item 92, (i.e., the icon of focusedcontent) as if being located at a position nearer to a user than othercontent icons 84.

The content icon display unit 290 displays content icons 84 so that thefurther in the right direction from the focus position a content icon 84is placed, the lower the lightness of the content icon 84 is. This givesan expression as if the focused content is spotlighted so that thefurther a position is from the focused content, the darker the positionis since the spotlights are difficult to reach the position. That is, auser is suggested that the playback dates and times of content graduallybecome older with the distance from the focus position. The content icondisplay unit 290 displays the content icon 84 placed on the left of thefocus position with lightness still lower than other content icons. Thisgives an expression that the spotlights are blocked by the focusedcontent and can not reach.

The live area defining unit 292 displays live items 92 to be displayedin the front of the live area 82 (a first live item group) with apredetermined degree of transparency by using a known method, such asalpha blending or the like. At the same time, the live area definingunit 292 displays live items 92 to be displayed in the front of the livearea 82 (the first live item group) in a size larger and lightnesshigher than that of live items 92 to be displayed in the back (a secondlive item group). This provides a user with an indication that a relatedinformation summary displayed in the front of the live area 82 can beoperated currently (i.e., the details thereof can be displayed in thebrowser screen) while providing a user with an indicating of theexistence of information other than the related information summarydisplayed in the front. The live area defining unit 292 displays thecontent icon 84 of focused content (the cursor 86), three live items 92to be displayed in front of the live area 82, and the notification item90 in a manner where the icon and items are connected by line objects93. This allows a presentation of linkage between a plurality of itemsthat can be operated currently (in other words, relationships betweenitems that are to be focused one by one in accordance with directionaloperations) in an easy-to-understand manner for a user.

The common menu display unit 280 displays the common menus in the systemarea 60 in the lightness same as that of the focused content and that ofthe live item 92 (related information summary) displayed in the front.This represents that the common menus are positioned in the front of ascreen and gives a user a hint that the common menus can be operated.

Next, an explanation will be given on the display of the content relatedinformation as a list. When a cursor 86 is in the live area 82 in thecontent zone screen 18 shown in FIG. 9, that is, when an item in thelive area 82 is focused on, if an operation indicating the downdirection is detected, the content icon display unit 290 sets the modeof the content icon 84 as a non-display mode. The live area definingunit 292 enlarges the live area 82, and arranges a large number of liveitems 92, the number being larger than the number thereof until thatmoment, in a lattice across the entirety of therespective-layers-information area 70 including the content area 80having been displayed until that moment. The related information displayunit 294 displays both the related information summary having beendisplayed in the front live item 92 until that moment, and the relatedinformation summary having been displayed in the back live item 92 untilthat moment, in a plurality of live items 92, respectively. That is, therelated information display unit 294 displays a plurality of types ofrelated information summaries on a same layer. As a result, the contentzone screen 18 shown in FIG. 10 is displayed.

FIG. 10 shows a status where a plurality of types of related informationsummaries relating to focused content is displayed as a list. Morespecifically, FIG. 10 shows a status where a plurality of types ofrelated information summaries are arranged in a lattice and displayed asa grid. Although in FIG. 10, nine (three in the horizontal and three inthe vertical) live items 92 are arranged, the live area defining unit292 may display live items 92, the number of which is in agreement withthe total number (the number of types) of the related informationsummaries relating to focused content, concurrently in a screen. In thisway, the live items 92, of which the number is more than that of thelive items 92 until that moment are concurrently displayed in the frontof the screen. This allows a user to grasp the details of various typesof related information summaries in a short time period, and also allowsa user to easily compare respective summaries.

Although same information is displayed in different live items 92 inFIG. 10, different types of related information summaries are displayedin practice. In FIG. 10, focused content indicated by an content icon 84specified by the cursor 86 is changed from that shown in FIG. 9, and thebackground 88 is also changed in accordance therewith.

The focus control unit 282 moves the cursor 86 between live items 92 inaccordance with an operation of the direction keys 216, also in thecontent zone screen 18 shown in FIG. 10. If the live item 92 on the toplayer is focused on by the cursor 86 and an operation in the updirection is input, displaying of the plurality of related informationsummaries as a list is finished and the display mode is changed back tothat of the content zone screen 18 shown in FIG. 9.

In case of making a transition from the screen shown in FIG. 9 to thescreen shown in FIG. 10, the related information display unit 294 maydisplay three pieces of content related information, which are beingdisplayed in the live items 92 disposed in front of the live area 82 inFIG. 9, in the three live items 92 disposed at the top of the screenshown in FIG. 10. In case of returning from the screen shown in FIG. 10to the screen shown in FIG. 9, the related information display unit 294may display three pieces of content related information, which are beingdisplayed in three live items 92 disposed at the top of the screen shownin FIG. 10, in the three live items 92 disposed in front of the livearea 82 in FIG. 9. This allows a user to easily grasp the links amongscreens intuitively.

Subsequently, an explanation will be given on a case where the “People”category is selected in the global navigation screen. In this case, asdescribed above, the secondary navigation screen 16 is displayed once.In case that a specific filtering condition is selected in the secondarynavigation screen 16, the third layer display unit 288 displays thecontent zone screen 20 shown in FIG. 5.

In a content zone screen corresponding to the “People” category (thecontent zone screen 20 and the content zone screen 22 shown in FIG. 5),information on another user who has been registered in the managingserver 102 is displayed. According to the embodiment, the “another user”refers to a “friend user” who is registered in the managing server 102by the user of the game console 200 in advance. When the content zonescreen 20 and the content zone screen 22 are to be displayed, the userinformation acquiring unit 265 acquires various types of attributes of afriend user, for example, a photograph, a name, self-introduction, orthe like that the friend user has registered in the managing server 102in advance.

FIG. 11 shows the content zone screen 20 shown in FIG. 5. The contentzone screen 20 is displayed in case that the “Recently Played” categoryis selected in the secondary navigation screen 16. When the content zonescreen 20 is to be displayed, the content icon display unit 290 arrangesin a line a plurality of content icons 84 and displays an image thereofin the content area 80 in a similar manner as that of the content zonescreen 18 as described above.

The inner portion of each content icon 84 in a content zone screen 20 isdivided into four. The content icon display unit 290 displays athumbnail (content image 94) of content which a user played back in thepast at the upper left area in one content icon 84. In other areas, thecontent icon display unit 290 displays images of friend users (userimages 96) extracted, on the basis of a predetermined condition, fromamong friend users relating to the content at the upper left area. InFIG. 11, the content icon display unit 290 displays, in the other areasin the content icon 84, images of three users who are among the topthree on the basis of a predetermined condition from among friend userswho played back the content shown in the upper left area of the contenticon 84.

An explanation will be given on an example of the ranking of friendusers. In case where the “Recently Played” condition is selected in thesecondary navigation screen 16, the managing server 102 or the contenticon display unit 290 may determine the ranking of friend users who haveplayed back the same piece of content as the one played back by the userin the past, so that the newer the playback date and time is, the higherthe ranking of the friend user is. Alternatively, among friend users whohave played back the same piece of content as the one played back by theuser in the past, the ranking may be determined so that the moreprogressed the playback status of the content for a user is (e.g., thehigher the target achievement rate in the game is), the higher theranking of the user is.

In this manner, in the content zone screen 20, for each piece of contenthaving been played back by the user in the past, the content and mainusers relating to the content are displayed while associated with eachother. This allows the user of the game console 200 to easily grasp acorrespondence relationship between content that have been played backby the user in the past and a friend user who is highly relevant to thecontent. This further allows a user to easily find a friend user whoshould be selected as a target for viewing the information, or a frienduser with whom the user should have a dialog and/or contact (e.g., bysending a message, or the like). Thus, a rapport between users can bepromoted.

In a similar manner as that of the content zone screen 18, the focuscontrol unit 282 displays the cursor 86 at the predetermined focusposition in the content area 80. The content icon display unit 290displays information on a friend user with a high level of relevance toa filtering condition selected in the secondary navigation screen with apriority higher than that of information on a friend user with a lowlevel of relevance to the filtering condition. In case the “RecentlyPlayed” condition is selected, the content icon display unit 290 places,at a focus position, the content icon 84 corresponding to content of thelatest playback date and time in an initial state of the content zonescreen 20, that is, immediately after a screen transition. From the iconthereof, the content icon display unit 290 arranges content icons 84 indescending order of playback date and time sequentially from left toright so as to display the plurality of content icons 84 in a line.

In a similar manner as that of the content zone screen 18, the contenticon display unit 290 may display the content icon 84 at the focusposition with high lightness and may display content icons 84 in theright so that the further in the right direction from the focus positiona content icon 84 is placed, the lower the lightness of the content icon84 is. The content icon display unit 290 may display the content icon 84placed on the left of the focus position with lightness still lower thanother content icons.

In a similar manner as that of the content zone screen 18, the relatedinformation acquiring unit 266 acquires from the managing server 102 aplurality of types of related information summaries of content indicatedat the upper left area of focused content (i.e., focused content icon84). The related information display unit 294 displays a plurality oftypes of related information summaries in a plurality of live items 92.The configuration for switching display positions between/among aplurality of types of related information summaries is also implementedin a similar manner as that of the content zone screen 18.

In this manner, in the content zone screen 20 of the “People” categoryfor having contact with people, users are classified on content bycontent basis, and the latest related information on a focused contentis displayed. This allows a user to easily find another user who shouldbe selected as a target for viewing the information, or another userwith whom the user should have a dialog and/or contact (e.g., by sendinga message, etc.). Thus, a rapport between users can be promoted.

If the cross button 226 is pressed in a state where a specific contenticon 84 is focused on in the content zone screen 20, the third layerdisplay unit 288 displays the content zone screen 22 shown in FIG. 5.More specifically, the content icon display unit 290 finishes displayingthe content icons 84 in a line shown in FIG. 11. Then the content icondisplay unit 290 displays a plurality of content icons indicatinginformation on a plurality of friend users in therespective-layers-information area 70 in the content zone screen 22, ina lattice (for example, two in the horizontal direction by N in thevertical direction).

The content icon display unit 290 displays information on a friend userwith a high level of relevance to a filtering condition selected in thesecondary navigation screen with a priority higher than that ofinformation on a friend user with a low level of relevance to thefiltering condition. For example, in case the “Recently Played”condition is selected, the content icon display unit 290 information onfriend users in content icons so that the newer the playback date andtime when a friend user played back the content is, the upper in thecontent zone screen 22 the content icon for the information on thefriend user is disposed.

Particularly in case of the transition from the content zone screen 20shown in FIG. 11 to the content zone screen 22, the content icon displayunit 290 displays information on friend users in content icons so thatthe newer the playback date and time when a friend user played back thecontent selected in the content zone screen 20 is, the upper in thecontent zone screen 22 the content icon for the information on thefriend user is disposed. Thus, the three fiend users displayed in thecontent icon 84 focused on in the content zone screen 20 shown in FIG.11 are to be displayed at the top of the content zone screen 22. In thecontent zone screen 22, a user can view information on a plurality offriend users sequentially by operating the direction key 216 in the upor down direction.

Also in case that the “People” category is focused on in a globalnavigation screen, the user information acquiring unit 265 acquiresinformation on friend users. Then, the content icon display unit 290creates an image where a plurality of content icons are arranged (forexample, the image of lined content icons 84 shown in FIG. 11) andpasses the image to the first layer display unit 284. Thereby, thecontent image 74 is displayed in the global navigation screen as shownin FIG. 7. In case that a specific filtering condition is focused on inthe secondary navigation screen, the content icon display unit 290creates an image where a plurality of content icons 84 are arranged inaccordance with the focused filtering condition and passes the image tothe second layer display unit 286. Thereby, the content image 74 isdisplayed in the secondary navigation screen as shown in FIG. 8.

[Browser Screen] A browser screen is a screen for detailed informationrelating to content (including not only multimedia playback content suchas a game, music, or the like, but also other users) selected in thehome screen 10.

FIG. 12 schematically shows images of browser screens 30 and screentransitions among the browser screens. If the cross button 226 ispressed in a state where a specific live item 92 is focused on in thecontent zone screen 18, the related information acquiring unit 266acquires from the managing server 102 detailed related informationcorresponding to a related information summary displayed in the focusedlive item 92. In other words, the related information acquiring unit 266acquires detailed related information on focused content in the contentzone screen 18. The browser screen display unit 276 displays a browserscreen 32 indicating the detailed related information acquired by therelated information acquiring unit 266 on the television monitor 204 infull screen.

The detailed related information may be data on a web page (for example,structured document data in HTML, XML, or the like). The browser screendisplay unit 276 may pass data on detailed related information to a webbrowser program installed on the game console 200 and may display abrowser screen 32 indicating a result of rendering by the web browserprogram.

If the cross button 226 is pressed in a state where a specific item (anicon, a link, or the like) is focused on in the browser screen 32, therelated information acquiring unit 266 acquires information associatedwith the focused item from the managing server 102. The browser screendisplay unit 276 displays a browser screen 34 indicating informationnewly acquired by the related information acquiring unit 266. Theinformation associated with the focused item may be information storedin the managing server 102 as further detailed related information onthe focused content in the content zone screen 18.

If the cross button 226 is pressed in a state where a content icon 84indicating a specific user is focused on in the content zone screen 22,the user information acquiring unit 265 acquires detailed userinformation on the focused user from the managing server 102. Thebrowser screen display unit 276 displays a browser screen 36 indicatingthe detailed user information acquired by the user information acquiringunit 265 on the television monitor 204 in full screen. The detailed userinformation includes a photograph image, a playback status of content(the progress status of a game, or the like), a recent activity (anachieved target in a game, or the like), a moving image uploaded to themanaging server 102, etc.

If the cross button 226 is pressed in a state where a specific item (anicon, a link, or the like) is focused on in the browser screen 36, theuser information acquiring unit 265 acquires information correspondingto the focused item from the managing server 102. The browser screendisplay unit 276 displays a browser screen 46 indicating informationnewly acquired by the related information acquiring unit 266. Theinformation corresponding to the focused item may be further detailedinformation on the friend user, for example, may be a micro blogrelating to the user displayed in the browser screen 36 as shown in thebrowser screen 38 of FIG. 12.

Among browser screens, if an input determination operation is detected,a transition is made to the next browser screen, one step at a time.That is, every time the cross button 226 is pressed, a browser screenindicating information (detailed related information, detailed userinformation) on a layer that is one level deeper and one step furtherfrom the content zone screen is displayed. On the other hand, if aninput cancellation operation is detected in a browser screen, a backwardtransition is made to a transition-starting-point screen one step at atime. That is, every time the circle button 224 is pressed, a browserscreen indicating information on a layer that is one level shallower andone step nearer to the content zone screen is displayed. That is, aso-called historical back screen transition is performed.

FIG. 12 shows that if a determination operation is performed in thecontent zone screen 28, which corresponds to the “Discover” category ina global navigation screen, site information on an on-line store forpurchasing content selected in the content zone screen 28 is displayed.

[Game Screen] If the cross button 226 is pressed in a state where aspecific content icon 84 is focused on in the content zone screen 18,the content playback unit 268 starts playback of electronic content. Forexample, the content playback unit 268 starts the execution of a gameapplication installed on the game console 200, and creates the displaydata thereof.

The game screen display unit 274 functions as a playback screen displayunit and displays a screen that indicates results of playback/executionof content performed by the content playback unit 268 (referred to as a“game screen” according to the embodiment) on the television monitor 204in full screen. It is needless to mention that a target to be playedback by the content playback unit 268 may be various application data(music tunes, movies, etc) other than games, and a target to bedisplayed by the game screen display unit 274 may be playback/executionresults of various application data.

[A Screen Transition] FIG. 13 schematically shows screen transitionsamong a home screen, a browser screen, and a game screen. As describedabove, the home screen display unit 272, the game screen display unit274, and the browser screen display unit 276 store data of a screen thateach unit has displayed recently or data of a screen that is the latestin a predetermined region in the screen data storing unit 256 andupdates the data on an as needed basis.

If the cross button 226 is pressed in a state where a certain live item92 is focused on in the content zone screen 18, the screen transitioncontrol unit 264 allows a transition from the content zone screen 18 tothe browser screen 32. Also if the cross button 226 is pressed in astate where a live item 92 is focused on in the content zone screen 20shown in FIG. 11, a transition is made in a similar manner. Amongbrowser screens, every time the cross button 226 is pressed, informationon a deeper layer is displayed, and every time the circle button 224 ispressed, a backward transition is made to an original display one byone, in a historical back manner. If the circle button 224 is pressed inthe browser screen 32, the screen transition control unit 264 allows atransition from the browser screen 32 to the content zone screen 18.

If the cross button 226 is pressed in a state where a specific contenticon 84 is focused on in the content zone screen 18, the screentransition control unit 264 allows a transition from the content zonescreen 18 to the game screen 50. Although not shown in FIG. 13, if auser inputs an operation for stopping the playback of content in thegame console 200 and the content playback unit 268 stops playbackprocess, the screen transition control unit 264 allows a transition fromthe game screen 50 to the content zone screen 18.

Next, an explanation will be given on a screen transition triggered byan operation on the PS button 236.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that a browser screen 30 at a givendistance from the home screen 10 (in other words, a browser screen 30that can be reached from the home screen 10 by a given number of screentransitions) is being displayed. This browser screen 30 may be any oneof the browser screen 32, the browser screen 34, the browser screen 36,or the browser screen 38 shown in FIG. 12, or may be a screen fordisplaying information on a further deep layer.

The PS button 236 functions as a short cut key for a screen transition.More specifically, if the PS button 236 is pressed once (i.e., singleclicked) when the browser screen 30 is displayed, the screen transitioncontrol unit 264 allows a direct transition from the browser screen 30to the content zone screen 18. In other words, the display of thebrowser screen 30 is switched directly to the display of the contentzone screen 18 without displaying another browser screen 30 that is thetransition starting point of the browser screen 30 currently displayed.In this process, the screen transition control unit 264 stores in thetransition data storing unit 257 information indicating the browserscreen 30 as a transition-starting-point screen of a transition causedby the PS button 236.

If the PS button 236 is single-clicked when the game screen 50 isdisplayed, the screen transition control unit 264 allows a transitionfrom the game screen 50 to the content zone screen 18 while the contentplayback unit 268 continues the play back of content. In this process,the screen transition control unit 264 stores in the transition datastoring unit 257 information indicating the game screen 50 as atransition-starting-point screen of a transition caused by the PS button236.

If the PS button 236 is single-clicked in the content zone screen 18that has been displayed by the single click of the PS button 236, or ifthe PS button 236 is single-clicked in another home screen 10 to which atransition is made from the content zone screen 18, the screentransition control unit 264 refers to the transition data storing unit257 and specifies a transition destination. That is, the screentransition control unit 264 determines the transition-starting-pointscreen, where the PS button 236 has been single clicked most recently,as a transition destination screen of a transition triggered by acurrent single click of the PS button 236.

More specifically, if the transition starting point when the PS button236 was single clicked most recently was the browser screen 30, thescreen transition control unit 264 determines the browser screen 30 asthe current transition destination. Alternatively, if the transitionstarting point when the PS button 236 was single clicked most recentlywas the game screen 50, the screen transition control unit 264determines the game screen 50 as the current transition destination. Ifthe browser screen 30 is determined as the transition destination, thebrowser screen display unit 276 displays the browser screen 30 that hasbeen recently displayed and stored in the screen data storing unit 256.If the game screen 50 is determined as the transition destination, thegame screen display unit 274 displays the latest game screen 50 that hasbeen stored in the screen data storing unit 256.

In case that a transition from the game screen 50 to the home screen 10is made by the PS button 236 during the play back of content, thecontent playback unit 268 or the game screen display unit 274 notifiesthe home screen display unit 272 of information indicating content ofwhich the playback is to be continued in the background (a game ID orthe like). The common menu display unit 280 in the home screen displayunit 272 specifies a game title and a thumbnail on the basis of thenotified information and displays an item on playback 64 (i.e., a “NowPlaying” icon) in the system area 60 in the home screen 10. If the crossbutton 226 is pressed in a state where an item on playback 64 is focusedon in the home screen 10, the screen transition control unit 264 allowsa transition from the home screen 10 to the game screen 50. The gamescreen display unit 274 displays the latest game screen 50 that has beenstored in the screen data storing unit 256.

Next, it is assumed that a transition has been made from the browserscreen 30 to the content zone screen 18 by a single click on the PSbutton 236, and content to be played back has been selected in thecontent zone screen 18 and a transition has been made to the game screen50. If the PS button 236 is pressed twice within a predetermined timeperiod, which is determined to be a comparatively short term (i.e.,double clicked) in this game screen 50, the screen transition controlunit 264 determines the browser screen 30 as the current transitiondestination. The browser screen display unit 276 displays the browserscreen 30 that has been displayed most recently and stored in the screendata storing unit 256.

Thereafter, it is assumed that the PS button 236 is double clicked againin a browser screen 30 to which a transition has made by the doubleclick on the PS button 236, or in another browser screen 30 to which atransition is made from said browser screen 30. In this process, thescreen transition control unit 264 determines the game screen 50 as thecurrent transition destination. The game screen display unit 274displays the latest game screen 50 that has been stored in the screendata storing unit 256. If the PS button 236 is further double clicked inthe game screen 50, the browser screen 30 in which the PS button 236 hasbeen double clicked most recently is displayed again. In this manner, inthe game console 200, a double click on the PS button 236 allows atransition from a game screen 50 being displayed to a browser screen 30that has been displayed most recently without displaying a home screentherebetween. Further, a direct transition from browser screen 30 beingdisplayed to the latest game screen 50 is made.

If the PS button 236 is double clicked, the content playback unit 268may continue playback process of content, or may suspend the process, ora developer of the content may determine arbitrarily and may set contentdata. In the former case, when returning back from the browser screen30, the game screen display unit 274 may display the result of theplayback that is latest at the time of returning. In the latter case,the game screen display unit 274 may return the display to the gamescreen at the time of a double click on the PS button 236 in the past.The same applies to the case where a screen transition is made between agame screen 50 and a home screen 10, the transition triggered by asingle click on the PS button 236.

An explanation on the operation of the game console 200 with theaforementioned configuration will be given below. If a user starts thegame console 200, the home screen display unit 272 displays a globalnavigation screen located on the top layer of home screens 10. If, inthe global navigation screen, a user selects the “Play” category forplaying back content, the screen transition control unit 264 allows adirect transition to a content zone screen. On the other hand, in theglobal navigation screen, if a user selects the “People” category forviewing the information relating to other users, the screen transitioncontrol unit 264 allows a transition to a content zone screen via asecondary navigation screen.

In a home screen located on an upper level, an image of a home screenlocated on a lower level (i.e., a home screen that can be a transitiondestination) is displayed. Thereby, the hierarchy of home screens can beeasily grasped by a user intuitively. In other words, the position of ahome screen currently being displayed among a plurality of hierarchizedhome screens can be easily grasped by a user. Further, hints ontransition-destination screens that are the results of respectiveselections from among a plurality of menus are given to a user inadvance when respective menus are focused on. This prevents a user fromselecting a wrong menu against his/her intention. Namely, this helps auser to select an appropriate menu in the game console 200 where aplurality of home screens are hierarchized.

Further, this reduces operational mistakes by users by displaying animage of a home screen that can be a transition destination with lowquality. For example, the global navigation screen 12 shown in FIG. 6allows a user to understand intuitively that the content image 74 cannot be operated. This prevents a user from inputting an invalidoperation with respect to an image of a home screen that is be atransition destination, for example, from inputting an operation in thehorizontal direction while the actual intention is to select the contentimage 74 in the global navigation screen 12.

In the secondary navigation screen 16 shown in FIG. 8, the content image74 is displayed with image quality lower than that in the content zonescreen 20, and with image quality higher than that in the globalnavigation screen 14. This allows a user to understand intuitively thatthe user has approached one step to the content zone screen 20 by thescreen transition from the global navigation screen 14 to the secondarynavigation screen 16. Namely, this allows a user to easily grasp theposition of a home screen currently being displayed among a plurality ofhierarchized home screens.

If the “Play” category is selected in the global navigation screen, thenumber of necessary operations made by a user until starting theplayback of content can be reduced by the direct transition to a contentzone screen. For example, in the initial state of the content zonescreen, content of the latest playback date and time is focused on.Therefore, if a user wants to play back the content, the user can startthe playback of the content by two steps after the game console 200 isstarted, i.e., a determination operation for the “Play” category in theglobal navigation screen, and a determination operation in the defaultstatus of a content zone screen.

On the other hand, if the “People” category is selected in the globalnavigation screen, by allowing the selection of a filtering condition inthe secondary navigation screen, user information satisfying thefiltering condition is displayed in the content zone screen with a highpriority. That is, a screen transition is implemented in accordance witha tendency that, with respect to playback of content, content with thelatest playback date and time is likely to be played back, meanwhilewith respect to viewing information on other users, the information isoften viewed while information on a plurality of users are compared.

In each home screen 10, a common menu for specifying an operation thatis independent of layers of screen transitions is displayed at a sameposition. This allows a user to make the common menu run by a sameoperation in any of the home screens 10. The common menu includes anitem on playback 64. Regardless of the layer on which the home screen 10being displayed is located, a user can return to a screen of contentbeing played back by a common and easy operation, i.e., by selecting theitem on playback 64.

The third layer display unit 288 arranges and displays icons of aplurality of pieces of content that can be played back in the gameconsole 200 in the content zone screen 18. If a specific content icon isfocused on, related information on the focused content, the relatedinformation being stored in the managing server 102, is displayed in thelive area 82 provided below the line of content icons. At the time ofdisplaying the related information, the playback of the focused contentis not started yet. Thus, processing load on the game console 200 at thetime point when determination of content to be displayed is notfinalized can be reduced. If the related information on the focusedcontent is updated in the managing server 102, the updated relatedinformation is displayed in the live area 82 instead of the old relatedinformation. Thereby, the latest related information on the focusedcontent is provided to a user on every update, and selection of contentto be played back can be supported.

According to the embodiment, in order to maintain the visibility ofcontent related information in the live area 82 of a limited size from acertain distance, the number of pieces of content related information tobe displayed concurrently in front of the live area 82 is limited tothree. The rest of the content related information is displayed in theback of the content related information displayed in the front. Thisallows a user to easily grasp that content related information that isnot displayed in the front exists. Further, the content relatedinformation that has been displayed in the front and the content relatedinformation that has been displayed in the back are switched as timepasses, or in accordance with an update of content related information.This allows a user to sequentially check various types of contentrelated information even with a live area 82 of limited size.

If a preset determination operation is performed in a state where aspecific content icon is focused on in the content zone screen 18, atransition to a game screen 50 for displaying a result of playback ofthe focused content is made. If a preset determination operation isperformed in a state where a specific live item is focused on in thecontent zone screen 18, a transition to a browser screen 30 fordisplaying detailed content related information on content indicated bythe focused item is made. Among browser screens 30, every time an inputdetermination operation is performed, a transition is made to thedisplay of detailed related information that is further from the contentzone screen 18 and that is on a deep layer in a stepwise manner. Incontrast, every time a cancellation operation is performed, a backwardtransition is made to the display of detailed related information thatis nearer to the content zone screen 18 and that is on a shallow layerin a stepwise manner.

If the PS button 236 is double clicked while a game screen 50 isdisplayed, the screen transition control unit 264 allows a directtransition from the game screen 50 to a browser screen 30 indicatingdetailed related information that has been displayed most recently,without displaying the home screen 10. If the PS button 236 is doubleclicked while a browser screen 30 is displayed and while content beingis played back in the background, the screen transition control unit 264allows a direct transition from the browser screen 30 to a game screen50 indicating the latest information, without displaying the home screen10 therebetween.

This allows, during the playback of content (for example, during playinga game), a transition by one operation from the playback screen thereofto a browser screen 30 indicating detailed information on the contentbeing played back (e.g., a game manual, information on how to win agame, etc). In a similar manner, a transition from the playback screenof content to a browser screen 30 for communication (chat or the like)with other users can be made by one operation. In a similar manner, atransition to a browser screen 30 for displaying information of varioussites on the Internet (e.g., a moving image sharing Website, etc) andfor receiving the benefit of various services on the Internet (e.g.,moving image streaming distribution, etc.) can be made by one operation.Information on a browser screen 30 that has been displayed most recentlyis expected to have relatively strong relation with content selected bya user for playback, thus the browser screen 30 is preferable as atransition destination from a content playback screen.

There are two method in order to make a backward transition from a givenbrowser screen 30 to a home screen 10 (e.g., a content zone screen 18),i.e., returning back in a historical back manner by performing one ormore cancellation operation, and returning back by single clicking onthe PS button 236. According to the embodiment, in case of returning tothe home screen 10 by single clicking on the PS button 236 and not bythe cancellation operation, if the PS button 236 is double clicked inthe game screen thereafter, a transition to the browser screen 30 to thebrowser screen 30, where the PS button 236 has single-clicked on, ismade. This is because in case of returning to the home screen 10 bysingle clicking on the PS button 236, it is expected that a user has anintention to return to the browser screen 30 that is the transitionstarting point thereof again, being different from the case of returningback to the home screen 10 in a historical back manner. In other words,the reason therefore is that the information on the browser screen 30where the single click on the PS button 236 has been made is expected tohave relatively strong relation with content selected by a user forplayback.

According to the aspect of the invention, under the limitation that botha game screen 50 and a browser screen 30 is displayed on the televisionmonitor 204 in full screen, a transition can be made from the gamescreen 50 to the browser screen 30 for displaying content relatedinformation that a user wants with an easy operation. A switch between ahome screen 10 and a game screen 50 and a switch between a home screen10 and a browser screen 30 are induced by a single click on the PSbutton 236. On the other hand, a switch between a game screen 50 and abrowser screen 30 is induced by a double click on the PS button 236.This provides a preferable operation method for a controller 202 thathas a limitation on the type of input operation (i.e., that has a smallnumber of input means). This also provides an operation method accordingto a human's sense, such as, a single click for a normal screentransition, and a double click for a direct switch between a game screen50 and a browser screen 30 while bypassing a home screen 10.

Second Embodiment

In the second embodiment, an explanation will be given on a variation ofthe first embodiment with respect to a process of displaying a live item92 in the content zone screen 18 and in the content zone screen 20.Although according to the first embodiment, the display of a pluralityof types of related information summaries are managed separately,according to the second embodiment, the display of the relatedinformation summaries are managed on a set by set basis, wherein a setis a grouped plurality of types of related information summaries. Hereinafter, an explanation will be given while referring to the content zonescreen 18 shown in FIG. 9. A set may be implemented as a storage areaprovided in memory in order to store an allocated related informationsummary.

As described above, in case that the status of a specific content icon84 changes to the focused status in the content area 80, the relatedinformation acquiring unit 266 acquires a plurality of types of relatedinformation summaries relating to the focused content from the managingserver 102. By allocation one or more related information summaries toone set, the related information display unit 294 allocates each relatedinformation summary to one of a plurality of sets. In other words, therelated information display unit 294 groups a plurality of relatedinformation summaries into a couple of/several sets.

More specifically, for one set, one or more related informationsummaries are allocated, wherein the upper limit thereof is set by adata size (predetermined image size and/or text size) that can bedisplayed in the live items 92 with the number that can be concurrentlydisplayed in the front of the live area 82 (three in accordance with theembodiment). If the size of each related information summary is lessthan or equal to a data size that can be displayed in one live item 92,the related information display unit 294 allocates three relatedinformation summaries to one set. In this case, if the number of relatedinformation summaries is nine, each related information summary isallocated to one of the three set. On the other hand, if the size of onerelated information summary exceeds the data size that can be displayedin one live item 92, the related information summary needs to bedisplayed across a plurality of live items 92. Therefore, the relatedinformation display unit 294 allocates one or two related informationsummaries to one set.

In this example, the number of related information summaries is assumedto be 7, and related information display unit 294 is assumed to providethree sets (herein after referred to as a first set, a second set, and athird set). It is also assumed that three related information summariesare allocated to the first set, and two related information summariesare allocated to each of the second set and the third set. That is, thesecond set and to the third set include one related information summaryof a size required to be displayed across two live items 92, and onerelated information summary of a size that fits into one live item 92,respectively. The live area defining unit 292 sets the live area 82 inthree layers in the depth direction, and displays three live items 92 ona front layer, a middle layer, and a backmost layer, respectively.Herein after, the live items are referred to as a “first layer itemgroup,” a “second layer item group,” and a “third layer item group,” inthe order starting from the front of the screen.

When displaying a plurality of related information summaries in theplurality of live items 92, the related information display unit 294determines a display position on a set by set basis, and switchesdisplay positions on a set by set basis. For example, in an initialstatus where a specific content icon 84 is focused on in the contentarea 80, three related information summaries that belong to the firstset are displayed in the first layer item group, two related informationsummaries that belong to the second set are displayed in the secondlayer item group, and two related information summaries that belong tothe third set are displayed in the third layer item group. In case ofdisplaying one related information summary in a plurality of live items92, the related information display unit 294 displays the information sothat the nearer to the beginning of the related information summary theinformation is written, the more left the live item 92 in which theinformation is displayed is positioned among the plurality of live items92.

In a similar manner as that of the first embodiment, the display of thelive area 82 is updated if a predetermined switch condition issatisfied. For example, if a predetermined time period has elapsed afterhaving started displaying a related information summary that belongs toa specific set in the first layer item group, the related informationdisplay unit 294 switches the display so that the related informationsummaries that belong to the set is displayed in the third layer itemgroup collectively. Further, the related information display unit 294switches the display so that the related information summaries that havebeen displayed in the second layer item group are displayed in the firstlayer item group collectively. Further, the related information displayunit 294 switches the display so that the related information summariesthat have been displayed in the third layer item group are displayed inthe second layer item group collectively.

As described above in the first embodiment, the contents of respectiverelated information summaries are updated from moment to moment. In casethat a related information summary that belongs to a specific set isupdated, the display may be switched so that related informationsummaries that belong to the specific set are displayed in the firstlayer item group collectively. In case that the related informationsummaries that belong to the specific set are already being displayed inthe first layer item group, a time period by the next display positionswitch may be extended by resetting the display time.

By the configuration of the game console 200 according to the secondembodiment, under the limitation on the number of live items 92 that canbe displayed concurrently in front of the live area 82, the display ofthe live area 82 that can take a flexible approach to the data size ofthe related information summary can be realized. That is, the display ofone or more related information summaries are managed collectively, bydefining a set corresponding to the data size of live items 92 that areconcurrently displayed in the front of the live area 82 as a unit. Thisprevents that a part of information is displayed in the back whileanother part of the information is displayed in the front, even if thedata size of related information summary is large and the display acrossa plurality of live items 92 are required. Therefore, the deteriorationof the visibility of the related information summary can be restricted.In addition, a large data size of a related information summary can bepermitted up to the data size that can be displayed in a plurality oflive items 92. Thus, the limitation on data size can be alleviated.

It is needless to mention that the configuration described above can bealso applied to the display of a related information summary in the liveitem 92 in case that a content icon 84 is focused on in the content zonescreen 20 shown in FIG. 11.

Given above is an explanation based on the first embodiment and thesecond embodiment. The embodiments are intended to be illustrative onlyand it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications to constituting elements and processes could be developedand that such modifications are also within the scope of the presentinvention.

According to the embodiments described above, a double click on the PSbutton 236 allows a direct transition between a game screen 50 fordisplaying results of playback/execution of content, and a browserscreen 30 for viewing various types of information. However, thetechnical idea according to the embodiments is not limited to a screentransition between the game screen 50 and the browser screen 30. Forexample, the game console 200 may comprise an application screen displayunit that displays a result of execution of an application other than agame (herein after referred to as an “application screen”), as a screenthat includes a browser screen 30. The application screen display unitdisplays, in the application screen, an execution result of a pluralityof types of applications (for example, music, a still image, a movingimage, an application for business use, etc.) other than gameapplications. Further, the application screen display unit displays, asan application screen, a screen (i.e., a browser screen 30) for viewingapplication data as information stored in the device itself or otherdevice.

In case that a game screen 50 and an application screen are displayedselectively in accordance with a result of menu selection in the homescreen 10, the screen transition control unit 264 allows a directtransition between the game screen 50 and the application screen

by a double click on the PS button 236. This variation of theembodiments has a similar effect as that of the embodiments. Forexample, during the execution of a game application, a transition fromthe game screen to another application screen can be made by oneoperation, and a backward transition to the game screen can be made byone operation. In a similar manner as that of the browser screen displayunit 276, the application screen display unit switches the display of aplurality of application screens in the direction departing from thehome screen 10 by a determination operation, and switches the display ofa plurality of application screens in the direction returning back tothe home screen 10 by a cancellation operation. If the PS button 236 isdouble clicked in the game screen 50, the screen transition control unit264 allows a direct transition to an application screen that has beendisplayed most recently.

Although not mentioned in the embodiment above, the related informationsummaries registered in the managing server 102 may include positionspecification information that specifies a display position in the livearea 82. This position specification information is informationindicating one of three live items 92 (herein after referred to as a“left item,” a “middle item,” and a “right item”, respectively)displayed concurrently in the front of the live area 82.

In this case, as a variation of the first embodiment, when switching arelated information summary to be displayed in the live item 92 that isdisplayed in front of the live area 82 (herein after referred to as a“front item”), if the front item is the left item, the relatedinformation display unit 294 displays a related information summary thatspecifies the left item by position specification information from amongrelated information summaries that have been displayed in the backgrounduntil that moment. In a similar manner, if the front item is the middleitem, the related information display unit 294 displays a relatedinformation summary that specifies the middle item by the positionspecification information, and if the front item is the right item, therelated information display unit 294 displays a related informationsummary that specifies the right item by the position specificationinformation. This allows each related information summary to bedisplayed at a specified position. In case that a plurality of relatedinformation summaries specify a same item, the information summaries maybe displayed so that the longer a time elapsed is after the display ofthe summary is stopped in the front, the higher priority is given to thesummary, in a similar manner as that of the embodiment.

As a variation of the second embodiment, a set is provided with storageareas that are independent from one another and that store relatedinformation summaries to be displayed in the left item, in the middleitem, and in the right item, respectively (herein after referred to as a“storage area for left items,” a “storage area for middle items,” and a“storage area for left items”). When allocating a related informationsummary to a set, the related information display unit 294 stores therelated information summary in a storage area corresponding to positionspecification information attached to the related information summary.The related information display unit 294 allocates related informationsummaries that specify a live item 92 at a same position to differentsets. When displaying related information summaries on a set by setbasis with respect to live item 92 of each layer (the “first layer itemgroup,” the “second layer item group,” and the “third layer item group”described above), the related information display unit 294 defines arelated information summary stored in the storage area for left items asthe left item, defines a related information summary stored in thestorage area for middle items as the middle item, and defines a relatedinformation summary stored in the storage area for right items as theright item. This allows each related information summary to be displayedat a specified position.

According to the variation of the embodiment, a person who registeredthe related information summary (e.g., a developer/vendor of content, amanager of the multimedia playback system 100 (managing server 102),etc.) can specify a position for displaying related information summaryin a content zone screen of the game console 200, which is an end userterminal. For example, the person can specify that newly arrivedinformation on focused content is displayed as a left icon that can befocused on with a small number of cursor operations, and can specifythat an advertisement of other games suggesting a user to purchase isdisplayed as a right icon.

Although not mentioned in the embodiment above, the focus control unit282 may determine the display mode of the cursor 86 in case of focusingon a specific piece of content in the content zone screen 18, inaccordance with the display mode of a background 88 that is displayedduring the content is focused on. The display mode of the cursor 86 maybe a shape, a pattern, or a color of the cursor 86, or an arbitrarycombination thereof. The display mode of a background 88 may be apicture, a pattern, or a color of the background 88, or an arbitrarycombination thereof. According to the variation of the embodiment, thecursor 86 can be displayed in a mode appropriate to the appearance ofthe background 88, for example, in a mode according to the theme of thebackground 88.

For example, a content developer may determine a background image when acontent icon is focused on in the content zone screen 18 and the displaymode of the cursor 86 that is suitable to the background image. Imagedata to be displayed in the background 88 and a parameter indicating thedisplay mode of the cursor 86 may be recorded in game software, and thedata may be stored in the content data storing unit 254 with theinstallation of the game software. In case that a specific content icon84 is displayed at a focus position in the content zone screen 18, thebackground defining unit 296 acquires a background image correspondingto content that can be focused from the content data storing unit 254,and displays the image on the background 88 of the content zone screen18. The focus control unit 282 may acquire a parameter of the cursor 86corresponding to the focused content from the content data storing unit254 and may display the cursor 86 in a mode specified by the parameter.Thereby, the content developer can determine the mode of the cursor 86for focusing on the content of the content developer himself,arbitrarily.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the function to beachieved by each constituent element described in the claims may beachieved by each constituting element shown in the embodiments and inthe modifications or by a combination of the constituting elements. Forexample, a content screen display unit described in the claims may beimplemented by the game screen display unit 274 or the browser screendisplay unit 276 according to the embodiment, or may be implemented bycooperation of these components. A cursor display unit described in theclaims may be implemented by the focus control unit 282 according to theembodiment. A menu screen display unit described in the claims may beimplemented by the home screen display unit 272 according to theembodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   100 multimedia playback system, 102 managing server, 200 game        console, 202 controller, 204 television monitor, 262 operation        detecting unit, 264 screen transition control unit, 265 user        information acquiring unit, 266 related information acquiring        unit, 268 content playback unit, 272 home screen display unit,        274 game screen display unit, 276 browser screen display unit,        280 common menu display unit, 282 focus control unit, 284 first        layer display unit, 286 second layer display unit, 288 third        layer display unit, 290 content icon display unit, 292 live area        defining unit, 294 related information display unit, and 296        background defining unit.

The present invention is applicable to an information processingapparatus for displaying a screen relating to electronic content.

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a menu screen display unit configured to display a menu screen indicating a plurality of menus; a game screen display unit configured, if an execution menu of a game application is selected in the menu screen, to display in full screen a game screen indicating an execution result of the game application; an application screen display unit configured, if an execution menu of an application other than a game is selected in the menu screen, to display in full screen an application screen indicating an execution result of the application other than a game; and a screen transition control unit configured to allow a direct transition from the game screen to the application screen if a predetermined first operation is performed while the game screen is displayed, and configured to allow a direct transition from the application screen to the game screen if the first operation is performed while the application screen is displayed.
 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if a menu for viewing information stored in a predetermined device is selected in the menu screen as an execution menu of an application other than a game, the application screen display unit displays, as the application screen, a browser screen for indicating the information acquired from the predetermined device in full screen.
 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein if the first operation is performed while the game screen is displayed after a browser screen for indicating information relating to the game application is displayed, the screen transition control unit allows a direct transition from the game screen to a browser screen for indicating information relating to the game application.
 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the application screen display unit displays a plurality of application screens indicating an execution result of a plurality of applications other than games while switching between/among the application screens in accordance with an operation by a user, and wherein if the first operation is performed while the game screen is displayed, the screen transition control unit allows a direct transition to an application screen that is most recently displayed among the plurality of application screens.
 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein every time a preset determination operation is performed in an application screen, the application screen display unit makes a transition to another application screen that is linked to the application screen having been displayed, and otherwise every time a predetermined cancellation operation is performed in an application screen, the application screen display unit makes a backward transition one by one to another application screen or to a menu screen that is a starting point of a transition to the application screen having been displayed, wherein if a predetermined second operation is performed in an application screen, the screen transition control unit allows a transition from the screen to a menu screen even if the transition starting point of the application screen is not the menu screen, and wherein if the first operation is performed while a game screen is displayed after a transition from an application screen to the menu screen is made by the second operation and not after a transition from an application screen to the menu screen is made by the cancellation operation, the screen transition control unit allows a direct transition to the application screen where the second operation has been made.
 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first operation and the second operation are operations made in a different manner via a same button.
 7. An information processing method comprising: displaying a menu screen indicating a plurality of menus; displaying in full screen, if an execution menu of a game application is selected in the menu screen, a game screen indicating an execution result of the game application; displaying in full screen, if an execution menu of an application other than a game is selected in the menu screen, an application screen indicating an execution result of the application other than a game; and allowing a direct transition from the game screen to the application screen if a predetermined first operation is performed while the game screen is displayed, and allowing a direct transition from the application screen to the game screen if the first operation is performed while the application screen is displayed.
 8. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium containing a computer program, the computer program comprising: a module configured to display a menu screen indicating a plurality of menus; a module configured, if an execution menu of a game application is selected in the menu screen, to display in full screen a game screen indicating an execution result of the game application; a module configured, if an execution menu of an application other than a game is selected in the menu screen, to display in full screen an application screen indicating an execution result of the application other than a game; and a module configured to allow a direct transition from the game screen to the application screen if a predetermined first operation is performed while the game screen is displayed, and configured to allow a direct transition from the application screen to the game screen if the first operation is performed while the application screen is displayed. 